Sunday, April 24, 2016

[Review] Madagascar Live - Mastercard Theatres @ Marina Bay Sands

In 2011, Xav watched his first musical "The Lion King" at Marina Bay Sands Master Theatre when he was 3. I remembered fondly that he was such a great boy to sit through the entire musical and got so emotionally affected when King Muffasa passed away that he cried and told us "no, he did not want that to happen."

Personally, I love how such family entertainment shows were being brilliantly recreated from the screen into a stage production of lively storytelling, dance and music!

In 2016, Vera watched her first musical "Madagascar Live" ! She loves animals and what a great way to introduce to her through this wild and action packed adventure as Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Marty the zebra, Skipper the penguin, Gloria the hippo and the plotting penguins as they escaped from their home at New York's Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an exciting unexpected journey to the mapcap world of King Julien's Madagascar.

The cast will only be in Singapore from 21 to 24 April 2016 and we were thankful to be invited for a meet and greet session with the cast. When I told Xav about the meet and greet, he started dancing and singing "Move it, move it" in excitement !

During the meet and greet, the nicely painted faces of the performers were shown. I believed she knew the difference and she chose to go to Marty the Zebra during photo taking but through her body language, she seemed to be telling me as she wondered why would a zebra be able to walk like a human?

I love the performers' make up, especially Marty's ! Just for your information, the performers' make up, needed one hour to be done prior to the start of the show ! Imagine the amount of effort needed to make the casts looked as fabulous and as close as what you have seen on screen?!

The best of friends !

With the casts

We caught the morning session on Saturday and it's always nice to see our friends in the same theatre !

Xav and his april buddy

I loved how the backdrop changes with the different scenes with the use of the projector. Some of the scenes that amused the kids when they saw the penguins trying to stimulate a snowing scene in the globe and there was another part of the scene where the penguins broke free and ran amongst the audience who were seated right in front. I could see that the audience got pretty entertained by them!

The plotting penguins

Another scene was when the stage was turned into Grand Central Station, with a moving train and doors with the animals hopping on and off ! You bet that scene totally captured Vera's full attention. It could not be any better with her favourite train and animals on it. I loved it too ! Apologies, no pictures on this as I was trying to contain the highly excited Vera on my lap.

The first part of the show was generally engaging as Vera managed to sit in her seat with all the songs and dances. Nearing to the end of the first half, Vera began to lose her concentration and preferred to keep her mouth busy by munching on the cup of popcorns! Yes, you can purchase some snacks to accompany you through the show. Pretty good idea to keep Vera to her seat !

Highlight of the whole show has got to be the last part when the casts roped in the audience to get on their feet and "Move it, Move it" ! I did not record any part of the show as it was usually not allowed but I recorded down how both Xav and Vera broke free and "Move it, Move it" along with them ! I could tell that the audience was much more lively when the songs and

All in all, despite the fact that the show used pre-recorded audio and lip-synced for most parts. Probably for me, I generally find it pretty alright and did not find it disturbing at all . Of course being able to hear the performers sing live would be a bonus. As for the kids, I believed that they would not have even noticed it and Xav enjoyed the whole show tremendously and did not find it boring at all. Coming from my 8 year old, he told me that the show was awesome !

Photo credit to Irene

Right after the show, we joined in the queue to have a picture taken with Gloria the hippo and one of the penguins.

Today is the last day of Madagascar Live ! The remaining three sessions will be at 11am, 2.30pm & 6pm respectively. The duration is about 101 minutes (including 20 minutes interval). Move it, Move it your way if you have nothing planned for tomorrow and before they "Move it, Move it out of Singapore !

Venue: Grand Theatre, MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands

Ticketing pricing (excluding $4 booking fee):

VIP Reserve : S$130

A Reserve : S$100

B Reserve : S$80

C Reserve : S$60

D Reserve : S$40

VIP Box (For 4 seats): S$520

Box Seats(For 4 seats): S$240

Series Pass Saver 25% off standard tickets with Series Pass Saver Save 25% when you buy tickets to more than one Base Entertainment family show. Saving is available for selected shows via Series Saver.

Madagascar Live! is produced by Istanbul Entertainment Group (IEG) and DreamWorks Theatricals, and presented by BASE Entertainment Asia.

Disclaimer : Thank you Marina Bay Sands Entertainment , DreamWorks Theatricals and Base Entertainment Asia for sending us your love. This is a media invitation for Meet and Greet and review purpose only. No monetary compensation is involved and all opinions are of my own.